Southern Naval Command
INS Sudarshini
Country India
Branch Indian Navy
TypeCommand
HeadquartersKochi, Kerala
Commanders
FOC-in-CVice Admiral M. A. Hampiholi, AVSM, NM

The Southern Naval Command is one of the three command-level formations of the Indian Navy. It has its headquarters in Kochi, Kerala at INS Venduruthy. It is the Training Command of the Indian Navy.[1]

The Command is commanded by a Three Star Flag Officer of the rank of Vice Admiral with the title Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Command (FOC-in-C). Vice Admiral M. A. Hampiholi, AVSM, NM is the current FOC-in-C SNC, who took over on 30 November 2021.[2]

History

The CNS Adm R K Dhowan inspecting the guard of honour at the Southern Naval Command

After the independence and the partition of India on 15 August 1947, the ships and personnel of the Royal Indian Navy were divided between the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan. The division of the ships was on the basis of two-thirds of the fleet to India, one third to Pakistan.[3]

The shore establishments on the southern coast were headed by the Commodore Cochin (COMCHIN), a one star appointment. The COMCHIN directly reported into the Chief of the Naval Staff. In 1967, the Goa Area was included under COMCHIN. On 1 March 1968, the Commodore Cochin (COMCHIN) was re-designated as Commodore Commanding Southern Naval Area (COMSOUTH).[4] In August 1970, the appointment of COMSOUTH was upgraded to the two-star rank of Rear Admiral and was re-designated Flag Officer Commanding Southern Naval Area (FOCSOUTH).[5] This appointment was later upgraded, in October 1977, to the three star rank of Vice Admiral and re-designated Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command (FOC-in-C SNC).[6][7] On 1 July 1986, the Southern Naval Command was made the Training Command. All the training establishments were placed under the command as well as the responsibility of formulating and executing of training policy.[8]

Area of responsibility

The Southern Naval Command and is commanded by the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief. The Southern Naval Command is the Training Command of Indian Navy and is responsible for the training of all its personnel, both officers as well as sailors, from basic to advance stages. It has subsidiary units from Jamnagar in Gujarat to Lonavala in Maharashtra, Goa and in Orissa but the majority of training units are in Kochi. The Indian Naval Academy is also placed under the Southern Naval Command.[9]

Kavaratti Islands is the home to INS Dweeprakshak, the main naval base of the Southern Naval Command in the Lakshadweep islands.

Capabilities

The Southern Naval Command consists of a Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST), a training squadron, training establishments and bases, and land forces and survey ships. It has a naval air station, and a ship repair yard.[10]

Organisation

The Southern Naval Command is organised as follows:[11]

Post Current Holder References
Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Vice Admiral M. A. Hampiholi, AVSM, NM [12][13]
Chief of Staff Rear Admiral J. Singh, NM [14]
Commandant of Indian Naval Academy Vice Admiral Puneet Kumar Bahl, AVSM, VSM [15]
Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST) Rear Admiral Rajesh Pendharkar, AVSM, VSM [16]
Commandant Naval War College, Goa Rear Admiral S. Venkat Raman, VSM [17]
Admiral Superintendent Yards (ASY) - Kochi Rear Admiral Sanjay Sharma [18]
Naval Officer In-Charge (NOIC) - Kerala Captain Varghese Mathew [19]
Naval Officer In-Charge (NOIC) - Lakshadweep Commander T. K. Praveen [20]

Naval Bases

Ships of the 1st Training Squadron

Naval bases under Southern Naval Command are the following[21]

Base City State/Territory Role
INS Dweeprakshak Kavaratti Lakshwadweep Logistics and Maintenance support
INS Minicoy[22] Minicoy Forward Operating Base
INS Androth (Under construction) Androth Forward Operating Base and Radar station
INS Garuda Kochi Kerala Naval Air Station
INHS Sanjivani Naval Hospital
INS Venduruthy Logistics and Administrative support
INS Dronacharya Naval Weapons Training
INS Chilka Chilka Orissa Naval Training
INHS Nivrani Naval Hospital
INS Mandovi Panaji Goa Naval Training
INS Hamla Mumbai Maharashtra Combined Operations Training
INS Shivaji Lonavala Technical Training
INHS Kasturi Naval Hospital
INS Valsura Jamnagar Gujarat Electric Equipment Training
INS Rajali Arakkonam Tamil Nadu Naval Air Base
INS Agrani Coimbatore Leadership Training
INS Zamorin Ezhimala Kerala Logistics and Maintenance support to Indian Naval Academy
INS Satavahana Visakhapatnam Andhra Pradesh Submarine Warfare Training

List of Commanders

Rank Name Appointment Date Left Office Notes References
Commodore-in-Charge Cochin (COMCHIN)
Commodore M. H. St. L. Nott August 1947 March 1948 Formerly Royal Indian Navy. Killed in an air accident at Corsica 27 March 1948. [23]
Henry Bramhall Ellison March 1948 July 1950 Seconded from the Royal Navy [24]
Eric G. McGregor July 1950 November 1952 Seconded from the Royal Navy [24]
A. D. H. Jay November 1952 January 1954 Seconded from the Royal Navy [25]
Bhaskar Sadashiv Soman January 1954 October 1956 Later Chief of the Naval Staff [26]
Sadashiv Ganesh Karmarkar 1 May 1957 April 1960 [27][28]
R. S. David April 1960 June 1962 [29]
G. S. Kapoor June 1962 December 1965
J. D. Mody December 1965 February 1968 [30]
Commodore Commanding Southern Naval Area (COMSOUTH)
Commodore Inder Singh March 1968 November 1970 [31]
Flag Officer Commanding Southern Naval Area (FOCSOUTH)
Rear Admiral V. A. Kamath November 1970 March 1973 [5][32]
Elenjikal Chandy Kuruvila March 1973 October 1973 [33]
S. H. Sarma October 1973 January 1975 [34]
Ronald Lynsdale Pereira January 1975 16 April 1976 Later Chief of the Naval Staff. [35][36]
V. E. C. Barboza 16 April 1976 26 October 1977 [36][6]
Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command (FOC-in-C SNC)
Vice Admiral V. E. C. Barboza 26 October 1977 3 March 1979 [6][37]
Oscar Stanley Dawson 30 March 1979 26 February 1982 Later Chief of the Naval Staff. [38]
Radhakrishna Hariram Tahiliani 26 February 1982 30 March 1983 Later Chief of the Naval Staff. [39]
K. K. Nayyar 30 March 1983 28 November 1984 Later Vice-Chief of the Naval Staff. [40]
Gulab Mohanlal Hiranandani 28 November 1984 30 November 1987 Later Vice-Chief of the Naval Staff [41]
Laxminarayan Ramdas 30 November 1987 25 February 1989 Later Chief of the Naval Staff [41][42]
R. P. Sawhney 25 February 1989 30 September 1990 [42]
Suren P. Govil 1 October 1990 30 December 1990 [43][44]
KASZ Raju 30 December 1990 29 August 1992 [45]
S. K. Chand 29 August 1992 14 October 1993 Later Vice-Chief of the Naval Staff [46][47]
Inderjit Bedi 17 October 1993 30 April 1996 [48][49]
A. R. Tandon 30 April 1996 23 October 1996 [49]
Madhvendra Singh 23 October 1996 31 March 1998 Later Chief of the Naval Staff [50]
Sushil Kumar 31 March 1998 30 December 1998 Later Chief of the Naval Staff [51]
R. N. Ganesh 8 March 1999 March 2001 [52]
Harinder Singh March 2001 May 2002 [53][54]
Madanjit Singh 31 May 2002 1 October 2003 [55]
Yashwant Prasad 15 October 2003 1 August 2004 [56]
S. C. S. Bangara 1 August 2004 31 July 2006 [57]
Jagjit Singh Bedi 31 July 2006 28 July 2007 [58]
Sunil Kumar Damle 28 July 2007 31 August 2009
K. N. Sushil 1 September 2009 31 May 2012
Satish Soni 31 May 2012 2014 Later served as FOC-in-C of the Eastern Naval Command
Surinder Pal Singh Cheema 2014 2015 Later served as FOC-in-C of the Western Naval Command [59][60]
Sunil Lanba 1 February 2016 31 May 2016 Later served as Chief of Naval Staff and as Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee [61]
Girish Luthra 2016 29 May 2016 Later served as FOC-in-C of the Western Naval Command [62][63]
AR Karve 29 May 2016 30 July 2018 [64]
Anil Kumar Chawla 30 July 2018 30 November 2021
M A Hampiholi 30 November 2021 Incumbent [2]

See also

References

  1. ^ "The Training Command" (PDF).
  2. ^ a b "New chief for Southern Naval Command". The Hindo. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  3. ^ Bhatia (1977), p. 28: "Consequent on the partition of the country on 15 August 1947, two thirds of the undivided fleet and associated assets came to India."
  4. ^ "Reorganisation of Naval Commands" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 2 March 1968. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Admiral Kamath to Command Southern Naval Area" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 8 August 1970. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  6. ^ a b c "New Naval Command - Southern Naval Area Upgraded" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 26 October 1977. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  7. ^ Hiranandani, G M (2005). Transition to eminence : the Indian Navy 1976-1990. Published by Principal Director of Administration, Integrated Headquarters, Ministry of Defence (Navy) in association with Lancer Publishers. ISBN 9788170622666.
  8. ^ Transition to eminence : the Indian Navy 1976-1990. Published by Principal Director of Administration, Integrated Headquarters, Ministry of Defence (Navy) in association with Lancer Publishers. 2005. ISBN 978-8170622666.
  9. ^ "SNC Authorities & Units | Indian Navy". www.indiannavy.nic.in.
  10. ^ "Organisation of Southern Naval Command, Kochi". Indian Navy.
  11. ^ "Organisation: Hierarchical Setup". Indian Navy. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  12. ^ "Anil Kumar Chawla assumes charge as Southern Naval Command chief". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  13. ^ "Vice Admiral Anil Kumar Chawla assumes Command of SNC". pib.nic.in. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  14. ^ Jul 1, TNN / Updated. "Snc Gets New Chief Of Staff | Kochi News - Times of India". The Times of India.
  15. ^ "COMMANDANT,VICE ADMIRAL PUNEET K BAHL , AVSM, VSM". 27 December 2021.
  16. ^ "Rear Admiral Rajesh Pendharkar, AVSM, VSM Assumes Charge as Flag Officer Sea Training, Kochi | Indian Navy". www.indiannavy.nic.in. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  17. ^ @indiannavy (26 February 2021). "RAdm S Venkat Raman, VSM assumed Command…" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 21 June 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2023 – via Twitter.
  18. ^ "Rear Admiral Sanjay Sharma Took Over as Admiral Superintendent, Naval Ship Repair Yard (KOCHI) | Indian Navy". www.indiannavy.nic.in.
  19. ^ "Preparedness of coastal security mechanism along Kerala reviewed". The Economic Times. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  20. ^ "Commander T.K. Praveen appointed Naval Officer in Charge of Lakshadweep". The Week.
  21. ^ "Organisation of Southern Naval Command, Kochi". Indian Navy. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  22. ^ "Southern Naval command chief reviews security in Lakshadweep". The Economic Times. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  23. ^ "Death of Commodore Nott" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 8 April 1948. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  24. ^ a b "A New Commodore For Cochin" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 13 July 1950. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  25. ^ "New Commodore For Cochin Naval Base" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 19 November 1952. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  26. ^ "Commodore Soman to Take Over Bombay Command" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 15 October 1956. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  27. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Navy Branch)" (PDF). The Gazette of India. 31 August 1957. p. 212.
  28. ^ "Changes in Senior Naval Appointments" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 23 November 1956. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  29. ^ "Senior Naval Officers to Meet" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 29 April 1961. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  30. ^ "Senior Naval Officers Meet" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 10 May 1966. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  31. ^ "Reorganisation of Naval Commands" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 2 March 1968. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  32. ^ "Rear-Admiral V. A. Kamath" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 7 December 1971. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  33. ^ "Admiral Krishnan To Head Cochin Shipyard" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 2 March 1973. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  34. ^ "Rear Admiral Sarma to Head Southern Naval Command" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 30 September 1973. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  35. ^ "Admiral Pereira to Take Over Southern Naval Area" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 8 January 1975. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  36. ^ a b "Admiral Barboza to Take Over Southern Naval Area" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 15 April 1976. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  37. ^ "Defence Snippets" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 9 April 1979. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  38. ^ "Vice Admiral OS Dawson PVSM AVSM, CNS Designate" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 27 February 1982. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  39. ^ "Admiral Tahiliani Takes Over Southern Naval Command" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 24 February 1982. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  40. ^ "Admiral Nayyar Takes Over Southern Naval Command" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 30 March 1983. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  41. ^ a b "New Vice Chief of Navy, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command and Deputy Chief of Navy Announced" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 28 November 1987. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  42. ^ a b "New Vice Chief, FOC-in-C (East) and FOC-in-C (South) for Navy" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 20 February 1989. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  43. ^ "New Commander-in-Chief for Southern Naval Command" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 1 October 1990. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  44. ^ "Vice Admiral Govil Retires" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 30 October 1992. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  45. ^ "New Vice Chief, Flag Officer Commanders-in-Chief and Deputy Chief for Indian Navy" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 28 December 1990. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  46. ^ "Vice Admiral SK Chand Takes Over Southern Naval Command" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 29 August 1992. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  47. ^ "Vice Admiral Chand is New Vice Chief of Naval Staff" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 14 October 1993. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  48. ^ "Vice Admiral Inderjit Bedi is New FOC-in-C, Southern Naval Command" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 17 October 1993. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  49. ^ a b "New Commander-in-Chief Southern Naval Command" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 30 April 1996. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  50. ^ "VICE ADMIRAL MADHVENDRA SINGH, VSM,AVSM,ADC TO BE NEXT CHIEF OF NAVAL STAFF". Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 29 October 2001. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  51. ^ "Top Naval Appointments Announced by the Government" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 26 February 1998. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  52. ^ "Vice Admiral De Silva Takes Over as New DG Coast Guard" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 5 March 1999. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  53. ^ "Naval reshuffle on cards". The Tribune - Chandigarh. 9 October 2000. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  54. ^ "Vice-admiral Harinder Singh seeks premature retirement". Rediff.com. 10 March 2002. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  55. ^ "Appointments of Flag Ranks in the Navy". Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 21 September 2003. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  56. ^ "Vice Admiral Yashwant Prasad, PVSM, AVSM, VSM". Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 15 October 2003. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  57. ^ "Vice Admiral JS Bedi to head S Naval Command". Hindustan Times. 28 July 2006. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  58. ^ "Appointment". Sainik Samachar. August 2007. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  59. ^ "VAdm SPS Cheema takes over as FOC-in-C(West) | Indian Navy". indiannavy.nic.in. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  60. ^ "Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba takes over from Vice Admiral SPS Cheema as the Commander-in-Chief of Southern Naval Command". pib.nic.in. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  61. ^ "Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba Takes Over Western Naval Command". pib.nic.in. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  62. ^ "Vice Admiral Girish Luthra takes over Western Naval Command | Indian Navy". www.indiannavy.nic.in. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  63. ^ "Vice Admiral Girish Luthra Takes Over Western Naval Command". pib.nic.in. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  64. ^ @indiannavy (31 January 2019). "VAdm P Ajit Kumar PVSM, AVSM, VSM takes over as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command, the premier Command of #IndianNavy in an impressive ceremony at Mumbai. Returns where he has commanded two frontline Destroyers + stealth frigate & was Chief Staff Offr (Ops)" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

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